Just a Small Town Girl...

From the first day I arrived, the one thing that all Wellingtonians seemed to mention over and over again is how small a town it is, and that they never fail to bump into people they know on a daily basis. They always said, "It seems much bigger than it is."
I could never relate, as I guess I didn't know enough people to manage to 'bump' into them on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.
So my stock answer became a dismissive "yeah, yeah, yeah."

The other night my flatmate Steven, probably out of pity for my lousy "I want to drop out of school" attitude, invited me to play scrabble with him and a couple of friends at his friend Dion's house.
I said yes, we went, and had a great time (my first time playing scrabble, for the love of God). One of the scrabble players was a kid named Will who happened to be from Georgia, of all places (the state, not the country). He's been here for 6 months and is going back this Sunday. Nice guy who went to AMDA in New York, and yes, dropped out of "scAMDA" as he calls it...for obvious reasons. And to his credit. Next semester he'll be going to Berklee School of Music in Boston, (yes, I thought of you, Robert!).
Now, Will started harping on about the fact that after only being here for 6 months, it's AMAZING how many people he bumps into on the street, blah blah blah, and I of course turned that part of my brain off, as again: I can't relate.
After wine and beer and scrabble, we went home and I was really glad I went.
Next day I met my friend Anna for a study session at a coffee place on Cuba Street. In the midst of pulling our hair out over this berloody essay we're trying to work on, who walks in but Will.
I stopped my whining about the essay, stared at him and shrieked, "I played SCRABBLE with him last night!"
Thus began my afternoon/evening of bumping into people:
Walking down the street: "Hey, there's my salsa teacher!"
At a different salsa class: "Hey, that girl works at my school!"
At a bar after class: "Hey, that's the Latin guitar player at Havana!"
Needless to say...I can now beam with pride when someone starts yakking about how small a town this is.